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Auckland Council’s Emergency Management department (AEM) is trying to ensure Auckland’s communities are better supported and not left stranded when bad weather events and other hazards strike in future.
Following reviews into its response to last year’s floods and cyclone, Glenn Browne has been appointed the senior community advisor for Hibiscus and Bays, Rodney and Upper Harbour local boards and an Emergency Readiness and Response Plan is being drawn up for each local board.
The draft Emergency Readiness and Response Plan for the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board area was presented to members at a workshop on May 14.
The aim is to identify local risks and provide comprehensive information for the public on how to prepare for emergencies as well as what to do, and where to go, should disaster strike. It will include the location of potential civil defence centres and shelters.
The draft suggests local civil defence centres, which are shelters and information hubs run by AEM, could be located at Ōrewa Community Centre and Stanmore Bay Pool & Leisure Centre.
Browne acknowledged that there were constraints, including potential flooding in Stanmore Bay, with those centres and said the team wanted to hear about alternatives from the local board.
Potential shelters (community-led centres) suggested locally in the draft are at St Stephen’s Anglican Church, Manly Methodist Church, YMCA Shakespear Lodge, Whangaparāoa College and Hibiscus Coast Community RSA.
The Salvation Army Centre in Red Beach, and Ōrewa Library (once rebuilt) were put forward to potentially add to that list, by members Gary Brown and Leanne Willis.
Community-led centres would be supported by the Whangaparāoa Community Resilience Group. An Ōrewa resilience group is in development, Browne said.
He said it was essential that the community resilience groups were sustainable and had sufficient capability and support.
The draft Emergency Readiness and Response Plan will be put to the resilience groups for feedback, and a further draft is expected to come to a local board workshop in August.
In a workshop last month, local board members raised concerns about resourcing, the lack of preparation, and the time the process was taking. The final plan is not expected to be before the local board for adoption until October.
“It is just not moving quickly enough,” member Leanne Willis said. “It’s more than a year since the first big event, and still there is no plan in place.”
“We feel your frustration and are moving as fast as we can,” Browne said. “Eighty percent [of the work] is taking place in the background.”
The draft plan is linked here:
